Method and system for issuing securities and fixed rate financing instruments, method for establishing a market with the system

ABSTRACT

An issuing system for a newly-issued security or fixed rate financing instrument includes a server and a plurality of issuing machines connected to the server via a network. Each of the issuing machines receives an ID recording medium provided by a potential purchaser, retrieves an identification recoded in the received ID recording medium, requests the potential purchaser to input request for a transaction of the security or fixed rate financing instrument, processes the requested transaction by retrieving information via a network from the server, and prints out on demand a hardcopy of the security or fixed rate financing instrument as purchased by the potential purchaser. A method for forming a new market with the issuing system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation-in-Part application of U.S.application Ser. Nos. 10/233,995 filed on Aug. 30, 2002, 10/358,432filed on Feb. 4, 2003, 10/376,358 filed on Feb. 27, 2003 and 10/444,870filed on May 23, 2003, Priority is claimed based on the parent U.S.application Ser. Nos. 10/233,995 filed on Aug. 30, 2002, 10/358,432filed on Feb. 4, 2003 and 10/376,358 filed on Feb. 27, 2003 and10/444,870 filed on May 23, 2003, which claim the priority dates of Sep.3, 2001, Feb. 5, 2002, Feb. 27, 2002, Mar. 11, 2002, May 31, 2002, Sep.3, 2002 and Feb. 4, 2003, the filing dates of Japanese PatentApplication Nos. 2001-265178, 2002-27550, 2002-51085, 2002-65123,2002-158595, 2002-257497 and 2003-27127, respectively.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an issuing system including a pluralityof issuing machines for selling, generating, and printing newly-issuedsecurities or fixed rate financing instruments that include selectedfeatures of common stock and bonds, and a method for establishing amarket with the system. In particular, the fixed rate financinginstruments attract private funds and investments to finance publicworks or projects, such as infrastructure improvement projects.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Stock certificates are a well-known type of certificate of securitiesthat represent the positions or rights of stockowners. A businessoperator issues stock certificates that represent the positions orrights of investors in return for acquiring funds from the investors.Those who purchased stock certificates (i.e., stockholders) are allowedto participate in the operation of the company that issued the stockcertificates based on the positions and rights given to them in return.In other words, stockholders can attend stockholders meetings,participate in voting, and demand dividends from the company that issuedstock certificates.

Moreover, stockholders are allowed to sell the stock certificates tothird parties. By selling the stocks at prices exceeding the originalpurchase prices, they can earn profits that are equal to the differencesbetween them.

Bonds are another type of well-known securities that are issued bynational or local governments, entities established based on speciallaws, or private enterprises for obligations they have to the public asa whole. Bonds are characterized in that they have predeterminedredemption dates, after which the bond issuers are to pay to the bondowners corresponding principals and interests. Bond owners are alsoallowed to sell bonds at prices exceeding the original purchase pricesand earn profits that are equal to the differences between them.

However, a business operator sometimes may not be able to acquiresufficient funds only by stock issues. Moreover, by issuing bonds, abusiness operator becomes obligated to pay the principals and interestsafter the redemption dates, so that bond issuing results in a highburden for a business owner.

US. Patent Application Publication No. 20020107766 provides a financialinstrument certificate purchasing system for issuing, transferring andredeeming financial certificates which are representative of underlyingpublicly-traded property. The system permits an individual to gift athird party with a certificate which represents a company's security orother financial instrument, while not itself consisting of the financialinstrument. However, the system does not sell, generate or print thefinancial instrument itself. In addition, the certificates are orderedvia a personal computer, rather than any publicly-availablestanding-alone issuing machine like an ATM.

There is a need for a securities issuing system with a plurality ofissuing machines placed at various convenient locations to for potentialcustomers to offer to buy securities, to buy securities, to transferbought securities to a depository, or to print out the boughtsecurities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a purpose of this invention to provide a system with a pluralityof issuing machines placed at various convenient locations to forpotential customers to offer to buy securities, to buy securities, totransfer bought securities to a depository, or to print out the boughtsecurities.

The system of the present invention comprises a novel method of issuinga new financial product different, from stocks and bonds, that willprovide investors who trade stocks and bonds with a new chance ofearning profits by creating and marketing a financial instrument thatprovides for partial guarantee of a security by a third party.

Therefore, an intension of the present invention is to provide asecurities issuing system for issuing bonds for obtaining funds fromprivate sectors to promote investments in public works projects forimproving infrastructures even in a society under a depressed financialsituation, as well as a new market forming method that enables the bondsissued by the securities issuing system to be marketed.

Another intention of the present invention is to provide a securitiesissuing system for issuing bonds, which does not specify the redemptiondate although the dividend, interest and guaranty are stated, thusproviding a new means for enterprises to obtain funds more easily, and anew financial product for investors, different from stocks and bonds,for earning profits through transactions, as well as a new marketforming method that enables the bonds issued by the securities issuingsystem to be marketed.

The above intentions can be obtained by an embodiment of the presentinvention in which a securities issuing system has a server in asecurities issuing institution, a client in a user institution, and asecurities issuing machine at a securities issuing site.

In an embodiment of the invention the server includes a means fortransmitting information an offer, indicating securities available tothe client and a means for receiving a bid or an offer to purchasesecurities. The server also has software capable of market making orcreating an authorization to issue securities based, in part, on thebids or offers to purchase securities received from the client. Theserver also has means for receiving individual user identificationinformation and user institution identification information. The serveris also capable transmitting and authorization including the individualuser identification information and the authorization to issuesecurities to the securities issuing machine. The server also has meansfor receiving a confirmation of the issue of securities from thesecurities issuing machine, accumulating a total of the securitiesconfirmed as issued and calculating fees to charge the userinstitutions.

The preferred embodiment of the invention, the client means fortransmitting the bid or offer to purchase securities to the serveridentification information about both the individual user the userinstitution to the server.

The third component of the preferred embodiment of the invention is asecurities issuing machine. This securities issuing machine includesmeans for receiving the authorization to issue securities from and theindividual user identification information from the server. Thesecurities issuing machine is also capable reading an individual user'sreference identification information from a recording medium and thencollating or checking that individual user identification informationreceived from the server with the individual user referenceidentification read from the recording medium. The securities issuingmachine then makes a decision base on that collation or check and, ifappropriate issues the securities detailed in the authorization to issuesecurities received from the server to the user. The securities issuingmachine then transmits the result or the conformation of the transactionback to the server.

In one embodiment of the invention, securities issued are bonds forobtaining funds from private sectors, which are issued by the securitiesissuing institution in order to promote investments of private fundsinto public works for improving infrastructures, carrying a wording thata trusted entity, such as but limited to, the Government of Japan, apublic entity, or a private enterprise of Japanese nationality, as wellas the national government of a foreign country, a public entity, or aprivate enterprise of foreign nationality, either singularly by one ofthem, or jointly by two or more of them, serves as a guarantor orguarantors within a predetermined limit for principal reimbursement andinterest payment liabilities to be born by the securities issuinginstitution and that the public works for improving infrastructures areplanned and executed by the trusted entity.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the securities issuing systemincludes securities issued for acquiring funds by a business operator inexchange for the certificates of securities, on which written are adividend wording describing that the business operator will distributeprofits obtained as a result of business activities to persons who ownthe certificates of securities, an interest wording describing that thebusiness operator will pay interests periodically to the persons who ownthe certificates of securities and a warranty wording describing thatone or more trusted entities serves as a guarantor or guarantors withina predetermined limit for principal reimbursement and interest paymentliabilities to be born by the securities issuing institution in case thebusiness operator becomes unable to pay the interests according to theinterest payment wording due to reasons such as a business failure.

In another embodiment of the invention, the securities issuinginstitution is a private urban development organization.

A further embodiment of the invention includes a method for forming anew market capable of making a person who has never purchased securitiespurchase securities issued by using the system, and trade thosesecurities in the market as needed.

The present invention provides a means of issuing bonds related toproject financing, where projects are public works such asinfrastructure improvement projects. A person who wishes to purchasesuch a bond is able to see the contents of the public works to which theperson is investing. Since the person can select the public works atwill, in which his/her money is to be invested, this method enhanceshis/her desires for purchasing the bonds. Moreover, since the person'sinvestment will never be used in public works to which he/her objects,the investor can purchase bonds with more confidence.

The present invention provides a private enterprise trying to executepublic works such as infrastructure improvement projects a means ofacquiring large sums of funds from private sectors to be invested intothe public works such as infrastructure improvement projects throughbond issuing.

This is because those who are buying bonds can be assured for therepayment as the principal and interests repayment liabilities of thebond issuers are warranted to certain fixed limits by the Government ofJapan, a public entity, or a private enterprise of Japanese nationality,either singularly by one of them, or jointly by two or more of them sothat the bond buyers are guaranteed to be able to collect the principaland interests safely within certain fixed limits even when the a privateenterprise fails in the operation of the public works.

Moreover, the present invention provides a means of preventing theGovernment of Japan, a public entity, or a private enterprise ofJapanese nationality from wasting tax money, because the warrants forthe bond issuers' principal and interest repayment liabilities by theGovernment of Japan, a public entity, or a private enterprise ofJapanese nationality, as well as the government of a foreign country, ora public entity of foreign nationality, are limited to certain levelsthat are determined fairly by an independent public institution.

Thus, the Government of Japan, a public entity, or a private enterpriseof Japanese nationality, as well as the government of a foreign country,or a public entity of foreign nationality are not obliged to bear thefull amounts of the bond issuers' principal and interests repaymentliabilities when the operations of public works such as infrastructureimprovement projects by a private enterprise fail as in the case ofgovernment guaranteed bonds.

Moreover, since securities that are not bound by the concept ofredemption dates can be issued according to the present invention, abusiness operator can operate without having to bear the burden ofprincipal repayment realistically speaking.

The owner of the securities issued under the present invention iseligible for dividends. He/she can earn interests as well. Furthermore,the owner of the securities is guaranteed for the repayment of theprincipal of the funds provided to the business operator by theGovernment of Japan, a public entity, or a private enterprise ofJapanese nationality, as well as the government of a foreign country, ora public entity of foreign nationality either singularly by one of them,or jointly by two or more of them within a predetermined limit, if thebusiness operator who issued the securities becomes unable to payinterests in accordance with the interest wording due to bankruptcy orpoor business.

The securities issued according to this invention are a new kind offinancial product which did not exist before. This product encouragespeople who have never bought securities to buy securities. Therefore,the invention can create a new financial market.

According to the invention, user institutions can apply for securitiespurchases through their clients, so that securities buyers can buysecurities from their homes and offices.

According to the invention, the clients of the present securitiesissuing system are installed in each user institution, so that it iseasy to control the securities purchase status by each user institution,and various services can be offered by each user institution to attractcustomers.

A user institution here means a securities company, a bank, a privateenterprise, or a general buyer of securities. According to thisinvention, the users of this securities issuing system can purchase thesecurities without having to have cash at hand as long as the users haveID recording media.

These and other objects of the present invention will become readilyapparent upon further review of the following specification anddrawings.

The present invention meets or exceeds all the above objects and goals.Upon further study of the specification and appended claims, furtherobjects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other objects, features, and attendant advantages of the presentinvention will become more fully appreciated as the same becomes betterunderstood when considered with the accompanying drawings, in which likereference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout theseveral views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a securities issuing system according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the overall structure of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing greater detail of the computersdepicted in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart representing a segment of a program executed bythe securities company's computer according to the embodiment depictedin FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart representing a segment of a program executed bythe investor's computer according to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the overall structure of an alternativeembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing greater detail of the printer depictedin FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart representing a segment of a program executed bythe securities company's computer according to the embodiment depictedin FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart representing a segment of a program executed bythe investor's computer according to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 shows a table of three kinds of fixed rate financing instrumentsof the invention including the one for an Odaiba Casino Project.

FIG. 11 shows a table of three kinds of fixed rate financing instrumentsof the invention including the one for a Japanese Highway Project.

FIG. 12 shows a table of two kinds of fixed rate financing instrumentsof the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 10-12 show examples of the fixed rate financing instruments whichoffer a dividend or are partially guaranteed by a third party toissuance as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/148,406filed on Jun. 9, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference.

The fixed rate financing instrument has at least one issuing legalentity specified thereon which issues the financing instrument asevidence of debt to acquire finds to finance at least one operation, aface value specified thereon to be paid to the issuing legal entity inexchange for owning the financing instrument, a fixed interest ratespecified thereon defining periodical interest payments to an instrumentholder as a percentage of the face value, and at least one of (1) aguarantee ratio g being defined as a percentage of the interest paymentsand the face value to be paid back to the instrument holder as committedby at least one third party to issuance, if the legal entity defaults,0<g<100, and (2) at least one of a fixed-rate dividend d and afixed-amount dividend to be paid to the instrument holder after anoperation financed through the financing instrument starts makingprofits, the fixed-rate dividend d being defined as a percentage of theprofits to be paid to the instrument holder periodically, 0<d<100.

The security is a note, a stock, a treasury stock, a bond, a debenture,a certificate of interest or participation in a profit-sharing agreementor in oil, gas, or mineral royalty or lease, a collateral trustcertificate, a pre-organization certificate or subscription, atransferable share, an investment contract, a voting-trust certificate,a certificate of deposit, for a security, a put, call, straddle, option,or privilege on a security, certificate of deposit, or group or index ofsecurities, or a put, call, straddle, option, or privilege entered intoon a national securities exchange relating to foreign currency, or aninstrument commonly known as a ‘security’; or a certificate of interestor participation in, temporary or interim certificate for, receipt for,or warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase, any of the foregoing;but shall not include currency or any note, draft, bill of exchange, orbanker's acceptance which has a maturity at the time of issuance of notexceeding nine months, exclusive of days of grace, or any renewalthereof the maturity of which is likewise limited.

FIG. 1 is a securities and financing instruments issuing systemaccording to one embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, thesecurities issuing system according to this embodiment is equipped with:a server 101 in a securities issuing institution, which may be anunderwriter or a private corporation (including a private enterpriseresponsible for executing a public work project), that issues securities(including the unique fixed rate financing instruments, for example, asshown in FIGS. 10-12) based on bids or securities purchase offers; aclient device 103 in each user institution (including securitiesbrokerage companies, banks, credit card companies, PayPal®, or anyfinancial institutes that keep accounts of the general public), which isconnected to the server via a communications link 102 such as, but notlimited to a telephone line or a wireless link; a securities issuingmachine 105, which may be located in each securities issuing site andwhich is connected to the server 101 via a communications line 102; andan identification (ID) recording media 106.

When the issuing institution is a private corporation (may be aprivately-owned or publicly-traded company), newly-issued securities,such as stocks, bonds, or the unique fixed rate financing instruments,may be issued without using any underwriter or underwriting syndicate,as long as the issuing process satisfies the legal requirements in onerespective country enforced by a governing body that oversees exchangeof fixed rate financing instruments for review or registration asrequired by law, such as SEC in the US. Such offers to sell cannot bemade before a registration statement has been filed with the SEC, andthe offers can not be accepted until a registration statement becomeseffective. After a registration statement is declared effective, salesliterature can not be delivered unless accompanied or preceded by afinal statutory prospectus, etc. According to the invention, a potentialpurchaser (an institutional investor or a member of the general public)can go to a standing-alone issuing machine to view prospectus and tooffer to purchase and/or to purchase the newly-issued securities andfinancing instruments. Alternatively, the potential purchaser may offerto purchase or purchase the newly-issued securities and financinginstruments via a physical site of an financial institution as describedbelow. As such, the invention provides new market mechanisms which allowpeople to trade securities and fixed rate financing instruments moreconveniently.

The client device 103 can be realized by a computer such as but notlimited to a general-purpose computer, a dedicated terminal, an officecomputer, or a personal computer.

Dedicated securities purchase offer software 104 as well as variousother kinds of application software are installed on the client device103.

When the securities purchase offer software 104 is activated, the clientdevice 103 is enabled to communicate with the server 101 and sendsecurities purchase offers or bids to the server 101. The securitiespurchase offer software 104 may for instance, be lent or licensed by thesecurity issuing institution to each user institution free of charge andis set up in such a way as to make securities purchase offers easier andsmoother.

The client device 103 with its securities purchase offer software 104running transmits information concerning the securities to be purchasedand ID information concerning user individuals and the user institutionto the server 101 in order to make securities purchase offers easier andsmoother. This function of the client device 103 may be termed the bidor purchase request function.

The ID information concerning user individuals and the user institutiontransmitted from the client device 103 to the server 101 at the time ofbidding for or requesting securities purchase is stored in an IDrecording medium 106 as the individual user identification (ID)reference information. Although the ID recording medium 106 used in thisembodiment is an ID card, the mode of the invention is not limited toit. The individual user identification (ID) reference information may beprinted in any suitable form such as, but limited to, text, 2D or 3D barcodes, graphic codes, water marks, visual bio-identificationphotographs, signatures and/or finger or thumb prints, digitized voices,hand prints, finger/thumb prints, or retinal (eye) images, etc. on acard or a storage medium. The individual user identification (ID)reference information may be carried by any suitable form such as, butlimited to, a paper or plastic card, a magnetic strip (e.g., on a debtor credit card), a magnetic disk or tape, an electronic chip (e.g., on acredit or smart card), a personal digital assistant or a cell phonememory, or memory in other portable, hand-held, or palmtop devices, etc.The electronic personal data or bio-identification data can be verifiedby sampling on-site or retrieved from the storage medium to compare witha on-site or on-line database.

In the meantime, the server 101 of the securities issuing institution'spurchase request accepting function establishes a securities purchaseoffer based on the securities purchase offer received from the clientdevice 103. The securities purchase offer is an authorization to issuesecurities. For example, the server 101 searches a database to see ifthere are any unsold securities of the particular securities based onthe securities information received from the client device 103. If theserver ascertains that there are unsold securities matching the bidspecifications, the server establishes the securities purchase offer orauthorization to issue shares immediately. If there are no securities ofthe type specified in the client bid information, the server notifiesthe client device 103 that there are no securities to be sold.

It is so set up that the securities purchase offer, or authorization toissue securities, will not be established even if there are unsoldsecurities are available if the ID information from the client device103 was not properly transmitted.

When a securities purchase offer or authorization to issue securities isestablished, the server 101's wait instruction function transmits the orauthorization to issue securities purchase information concerning thedeal as well as the ID information concerning the securities purchaseoffer to the securities issuing machine 105 at the securities issuingsite.

In one embodiment, the securities issuing machine 105 at the securitiesissuing site has an slot 105 a for inserting, inputting or otherwiseconnecting, the ID recording medium 106. The issuing machine 105 is, bymeans of an ID reading function, also capable of reading the user's IDreference information recorded on the ID recording medium when the IDrecording medium 106 is inserted, input or otherwise connected into theslot. The issuing machine 105 may be as automated as an automatic tellermachine (ATM) so as to print and dispense a fixed rate financinginstrument directly to a purchaser. Alternatively, the purchaser maydesignate a depository, such as a security breakage company or the likewhich the purchaser has a account with. In one embodiment of theinvention, the issuing machine 105 also functions as an automatic tellermachine (ATM) or other kiosks, such as paying routine bills, fees, andtaxes (utilities, phone bills, social security, legal fees, taxes,etc.), loading monetary value into pre-paid cards (cell phones, tolls),conducting ticketing transactions (train, concert, etc.). The issuingmachine 105 may have custom circuit boards or using a computer withspecial software running on operating systems such as Windows, Linux,etc.

The issuing machine 105 then, in a collating function, collates theuser's ID reference information read from the medium with the IDinformation received from the server. In-store issuing machine 105 mayhave its cryptoprocessor connected directly to the internet or othernetwork, or via a modem over a dedicated telephone line then to theinternet so as to connect to the server. The secure crypto processor isgenerally within a computer in a secure enclosure. The security of theissuing machine 105 relies on the integrity of the securecryptoprocessor.

If appropriate, the issuing machine 105 then, by means of an issuingfunction, (1) prompts a pop-up screen for users to click-through toindicate whether they are located within a jurisdiction where theoffering has been registered or is exempt from registration, or the sitemay be password-protected for investors who have otherwise been screenedand given passwords, (2) prompts a pop-up screen for users toclick-through to consent to electronic delivery/display a statutoryprospectus, and to acknowledge that they have electronicallyreceived/reviewed the statutory prospectus, and then (3) issues thesecurities 107 based on the corresponding securities purchase offerinformation. The issuing machine 105 also prompts a statement that papercopies of the prospectus and other required SEC documents are availableupon request from an identified contact. The issuing machine 105 alsohas an issue result transmitting function which is used to transmitconfirmation of the securities issue to the server 101 as the securityissue result information or confirmation.

Optionally, the server 101 and the issuing machine 105 supportsreal-time pricing for newly-issued securities on-line to the publicbased upon the offers to purchase and offers to sell availablereal-time, rather than traded on a regular, periodic basis, such asweekly, semi-weekly, or daily like in the current bond market.

Outdoor issuing machines 105 may be free-standing, like a kiosk, orbuilt into the side of a building of financing entities, such assecurity brokerage companies, banks, post offices, etc. The issuingmachines 105 placed at or inside locations such as malls, grocerystores, and restaurants. These entities may charge a processing fee forthe arrangement. The security features of the issuing machines 105include invulnerable physical structures, effectively safe dispensingmechanisms, etc. Additional security mechanisms known to one skilled inthe art are installed for the outdoor issuing machines 105.

The issuing result or confirmation information of the securities 107transmitted from the securities issuing machine 105 to the server 101 isaccumulated on the database in the server 101 by means of an informationaccumulating function.

The server 101 of the securities issuing institution can furthercalculate the fees based on the accumulated issuing result information(post-issue settling function).

Let us now describe the operation of the embodiment constituted above.In the securities issuing system using ID information according to thisembodiment, the client device 103 of each user institution is activatedand operated by the operator to run the securities purchase offersoftware 104 installed in the client device 103. As the securitiespurchase offer software 104 is activated, the client device 103 isenabled to communicate with the server 101 of the securities issuinginstitution.

Next, the operator enters information concerning the securities desiredto be purchased, enters into the client device 103 the user's individualID information and the ID information concerning the user institution,which will in turn be transmitted from the client device 103 to theserver 101 of the securities issuing institution in order to present thesecurities purchase offer or bid to the server 101 of the securitiesissuing institution.

The user's individual ID information and the ID information concerningthe user institution to be transmitted to the server 101 of thesecurities issuing institution are the same as the information stored inthe ID recording medium 106 as the user's ID reference information.

Upon receiving the securities purchase offer or bid from the clientdevice 103, the server 101 of the securities issuing institution, in amarket making operation, searches a database to see if there are anyunsold securities of the particular securities based on the informationfrom the client device 103. If there are unsold securities, a securitiespurchase offer is immediately established. Otherwise the client device103 is notified that there are no securities matching the bid. Thesecurities purchase offer will not be established even if there areunsold securities are available if the ID information from client device103 was not properly transmitted.

When a securities purchase offer or authorization is established, theserver 101 transmits the securities purchase information orauthorization concerning the deal, as well as the appropriate IDinformation, to the securities issuing machine 105 provided in thesecurities issuing site. This completes the securities purchase offer orauthorization procedure.

The user who made a securities purchase offer or bid goes to thesecurities issuing site with the ID recording medium 106 that stores theID reference information. The user puts the ID recording medium 106 intothe slot 105 a of the securities issuing machine 105 of the securitiesissuing institution located at the securities issuing site.

The securities issuing machine 105 reads the information from IDrecording medium 106, and collates the user's ID reference informationread from the medium with the ID information received from the server101, and issues the securities 107 based on the corresponding securitiespurchase offer information based on the collation result.

The securities issuing machine 105 further transmits confirmation of thesecurities issue to the server 101 as the security issue result orconformation information. The issuing result information of thesecurities 107 transmitted from the securities issuing machine 105 tothe server 101 is accumulated on the database in the server 101.

The server 101 of the securities issuing institution can furthercalculate the fees based on the accumulated issuing result informationas well as calculate the fees for each user institution's client device103 or each user institution.

As can be seen from the above, since the client device 103 is installedat each user institution, each user institution can more easily manageits securities purchasing status. In particular, as the client device103 can start up various other types of application software on its own,a wide range of applications, for example, causing the accountingapplication to read the securities purchase status data, are possible.

On the other hand, the securities issuing institution can providevarious services for each user institution depending on this mode of theembodiment. For example, it is possible to arrange a post-issue lump sumsettling based on the securities issuing result information or providediscount service depending on the number of securities issued for eachuser institution. This makes it possible for the securities issuinginstitution to monopolize, practically speaking, each user institution'ssecurities purchase needs.

Also, according to this embodiment, processes within the institutionsuch as charging forward and its registration become unnecessary as thefee settling procedures are done for the user institutions.

The client device 103 has various functions related to the securitiespurchase offer such as the collating function for the securitiespurchase offers. Moreover, it is possible to arrange various servicesfrom the securities issuing institution to be transmitted from theserver 101 of the securities issuing institution to the client device103.

Although the client device 103 transmits the ID information of each userinstitution and the individual user in the user institution directly tothe securities issuing institution in this embodiment, the invention isnot limited to that mode.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the client device 103 mayalso present a securities purchase offer or bid by transmitting the IDinformation indirectly to the issuing institution by presenting a biddisplaying or including ID information to the Bank of Japan or afinancial institution. In this event, the Bank of Japan or the financialinstitution transmits the ID information from the client device 103 tothe securities issuing institution.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the entire structure of the securitiesinformation offering system according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention. The securities information offering system accordingto this embodiment comprises a computer 21A installed at a securitiescompany and a computer 22A owned by an investor, which areinterconnected communicably via a network 23A. The number and type ofthe devices connected to the network 23A are not limited by the exampleshown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the constitution of the computers 21Aand 22A according to this embodiment. With reference to FIG. 3, thecomputers 21A and 22A each has a CPU 21 for conducting various controland arithmetic processes, a ROM 212 for storing various programs anddata, a RAM 213 for temporarily storing data as a working area, a harddisk 214 for storing various programs and data, a display 215 forconducting various displays, an input device 216 such as a keyboard anda mouse for conducting various inputs, a network interface 217 forcommunicating with other devices on the network, and others, all ofwhich area interconnected via a bus 218 for exchanging signals.

The network 23A can be a public network such as a telephone network, amobile communication network, an ISDN and a packet exchange network, ora computer network such as a LAN, a WAN and the Internet.

Next, the outline of the operation of the securities informationoffering system according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 4and FIG. 5 are the flowcharts of the procedures of the securitiesinformation offering processes of the computers 21A and 22A. Thealgorithms shown as the flowcharts of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are stored asthe control programs in either the ROM 212 or the hard disk 214 of thecomputers 21A and 22A respectively, and are executed by the CPU 21.

In FIG. 4, the computer 21A installed in the securities company waitsfor securities information including the dividend wording 3, theinterest wording 4, and the warranty wording 5 to be entered (S101: No).The operator at the securities company enters into the computer 21A viathe input device 216 the dividend wording 3, the interest wording 4, andthe warranty wording 5 for a specific securities similar to the oneshown in the first embodiment, as well as other securities information,e.g., a wording 1 concerning the title, and a wording 2 concerning theface value and other information relaying to the securities certificate.

When the computer 21A receives the securities information including thedividend wording 3, the interest wording 4, and the warranty wording 5(S101: Yes), it records the entered securities information into the harddisk 214 (S102), and transmits the securities information to thecomputer owned by the investor 22A via the network interface 217 and thenetwork 23A (S103). The procedure of the transmission of the securitiesinformation in the step S103 can be automatically done according to thesecurities information input procedure in the step S101, or can beperformed upon receiving the transmission request from the computer 22Aowned by the investor.

In FIG. 5, upon receiving the securities information including thedividend wording 3, the interest wording 4, and the warranty wording 5from the computer 21A owned by the investor via the network 23A and thenetwork interface 217 (S201), the computer 22A stores the receivedinformation into the hard disk 214 (S202), and displays the same on thedisplay unit 215 (S203).

In this embodiment, the investor can confirm the contents of thesecurities according to the present information from his/her office orhome and instantaneously purchase any desired securities through on-lineprocedures using the computer 22A. Moreover, the securities company canadvertise and sell simultaneously the securities according to theinvention through the network alone.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the entire structure of the securitiesinformation offering system according to the third embodiment of thepresent invention. The securities information offering system accordingto this embodiment comprises, similar to the case of the securitiesinformation offering system according to the aforementioned secondembodiment, a computer 21B installed at a securities company and acomputer 22B owned by an investor, which are interconnected communicablyvia a network 23B, while a printer 24 is connected to the computer 22B.

The computers 21B and 22B of this embodiment have constitutions similarto those of the computers 21A and 22A of the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the constitution of the printer 24according to this embodiment. With reference to FIG. 7, the printer 24has, in addition to a CPU 241, a ROM 242, a RAM 243, a network interface246, and a bus 247, an operating panel 244 consisting of a touch panelfor various inputs and displays, fixed keys, display lamps, etc., and aprinting unit 245 for printing image data.

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are the flowcharts showing the procedures of thesecurities issuing processes in the computers 21B and 22B in thisembodiment. The algorithms shown as the flowcharts of FIG. 8 and FIG. 9are stored as the control programs in either the ROM 212 or the harddisk 214 of the computers 21B and 22B respectively, and are executed bythe CPU 21.

In FIG. 8, the computer 21B installed in the securities company waitsfor securities information including the dividend wording 3, theinterest wording 4, and the warranty wording 5 to be entered (S301: No).The operator at the securities company enters into the computer 21B viathe input device 216 the dividend wording 3, the interest wording 4, andthe warranty wording 5 for a specific securities as well as othersecurities information as indicated in the aforementioned firstembodiment.

When the computer 21B receives the securities information including thedividend wording 3, the interest wording 4, and the warranty wording 5(S301: Yes), it generates an electronic securities certificate based onthe received securities information (S302). The electronic securitiescertificate mentioned here is a version based on electronic data of thesecurities certificate shown in the first embodiment (FIG. 1), andcontains the wording 1 for the title of the securities, the wording 2for the face value, the dividend wording 3, the interest wording 4, andthe warranty wording 5 for the specific securities as well as theelectronic signature of the securities issuer (business operator) forguarantying the legitimacy of the securities certificate. Moreover, suchan electronic securities certificate is provided with a specified copyprotection for the purpose of preventing illegal modification orcopying. The computer 21B records the generated electronic securitiescertificate in the hard disk 214 (S303), and transmits simultaneouslythe electronic securities certificate to the computer 22B owned by theinvestor via the network interface 217 and the network 23B (S304). Theprocedure of the transmission of the securities information in the stepS304 can be automatically done according to the securities informationinput procedure in the step S302, or can be performed upon receiving thetransmission request from the computer 22B owned by the investor.

In FIG. 9, upon receiving the electronic securities certificateincluding the dividend wording 3, the interest wording 4, and thewarranty wording 5 from the computer 21B owned by the investor via thenetwork 23B and the network interface 217 (S401), the computer 22Bstores the received electronic securities certificate into the hard disk214 (S402), and displays its contents on the display unit 215 (S403).

In this embodiment, the electronic securities certificate can becirculated through the network as the original of the securitiescertificate, so that the investor can purchase the contents of thesecurities according to the present information from his/her office orhome and instantaneously obtain the certificate of any desiredsecurities through on-line procedures using the computer 22B. Moreover,the securities company can sell the securities according to theinvention through the network alone and is freed from the burden ofmailing the securities certificate later.

Further, the computer 22B can be a type which prints out the contents ofthe electronic securities certificate by means of the printer 24, inaddition to or instead of displaying them on its display unit. In otherwords, it is possible to provide the electronic securities with aprotection electronically so that it can be printed only once, so thatthe only one copy of the securities certificate can be printed andcirculated through the market as its original. In this case, withreference to FIG. 9, the computer 22B waits for the printing instructionof the electronic securities certificate (S404), generates a print jobof the contents of the electronic securities certificate recorded on thehard disk 214 (S405), and transmits the print job to the printer 24(S406). The printing output protection applied on the electronicsecurities certificate as mentioned above does not have to be a typethat limits the printing to only once, but can be a multiple print typeor a no-limit type (i.e., no protection).

investors can purchase the new financial products of the presentinvention that are neither stocks nor bonds, and seek profits in a newfinancial market that did not exist before, while business operators canobtain funds using these securities that are neither stocks nor bonds.The financial instruments according to the present invention will dig uplatent private funds in private sectors to be invested into publicworks. Therefore, the present invention will help the national as wellas local governments of various countries of the world to improveinfrastructures such as roads and healthcare facilities even under atight financial condition.

The invention provides a method for forming a new market by providing aserver and a plurality of issuing machines connected to the server via anetwork.

The principles, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of thepresent invention have been described in the foregoing specification.However, the invention which is intended to be protected is not limitedto the particular embodiments disclosed. The embodiments describedherein are illustrative rather than restrictive. Variations and changesmay be made by others, and equivalents employed, without departing fromthe spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, it is expresslyintended that all such variations, changes and equivalents which fallwithin the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in theclaims, be embraced thereby.

1. A method for forming a new market for a newly-issued security orfixed rate financing instrument comprising: issuing the security as astock or a bond, or issuing the fixed rate financing instrument printedthereon: at least one issuing legal entity specified thereon whichissues the financing instrument as evidence of debt to acquire funds tofinance at least one operation; a face value specified thereon to bepaid to said issuing legal entity in exchange for owning the financinginstrument; a fixed interest rate specified thereon defining periodicalinterest payments to an instrument holder as a percentage of the facevalue; and at least one of (1) a guarantee ratio g being defined as apercentage of the interest payments and the face value to be paid backto the instrument holder as committed by at least one third party toissuance, if said legal entity defaults, 0<g<100, (2) a fixed-ratedividend d to be paid to the instrument holder after an operationfinanced through said financing instrument starts making profits, saidfixed-rate dividend d being defined as a percentage of said profits tobe paid to the instrument holder periodically, 0<d<100, and (3) afixed-amount dividend being more than 0 and to be paid to the instrumentholder after an operation financed through said financing instrumentstarts making profits; providing a server and a plurality of issuingmachines connected to the server via a network; and placing theplurality of issuing machines at locations accessible to the public;receiving an identification (ID) recording medium provided by apotential purchaser by one of the issuing machines; retrieving anidentification recorded in the received ID recording medium by said oneof the issuing machines; requesting the potential purchaser to inputrequest for a transaction of the security or fixed rate financinginstrument by said one of the issuing machines; and processing therequested transaction by said one of the issuing machines by retrievinginformation via a network from the server; and printing out by said oneof the issuing machines a hardcopy of the security or fixed ratefinancing instrument as purchased by the potential purchaser.
 2. Themethod for forming a new market according to claim 1, further comprisingnotifying a depository designated by the potential purchaser thesecurity or fixed rate financing instrument as purchased by thepotential purchaser shall be deposited with the depository.
 3. Themethod for forming a new market according to claim 2, wherein thenotification is forwarded along with authorization for printing out ahardcopy of the security or fixed rate financing instrument as purchasedby the potential purchaser.